OUR history
Founded in 2006, Providence Sports and Leadership (PSL) is an youth athletic and leadership development organization, which inspires and supports promising youth to be leaders and champions in their community and in life, by providing them with life skills for continued success.
In 2006 our two founders, Kennedy Arias and Bill Flaherty, having come from different life paths, formed an unbreakable bond, and created a plan to address the growing gaps in youth sports in Providence. By focusing on developing consistent high quality coaching, practices, and opportunities to play competitively, PSL has provided hundreds of student-athletes with access to opportunities and resources while guiding them on their journeys to gain a sense of responsibility for themselves, their peers, and their community.
Baseball was the natural beginning for PSL, as both of our founders had extensive experience playing and coaching the game they love. Together they identified gaps within the city’s options for youth to play baseball, as programming is very limited in Providence after the age of 14. The once mighty Babe Ruth Senior leagues have diminished and many youth have ended up having to pay high fees to play elsewhere or stopped playing all together once they aged out of Little League. Additionally, fewer playing options was reflective of the shrinking number of qualified coaches and mentors in and around Providence.
After establishing a high quality baseball program, PSL began building out its additional support programs for student-athletes. Those programs consisted of tutoring, college Assist, strength and conditioning, and community service opportunities. In 2022, PSL received several funding awards that have allowed PSL to expand once again. These awards have allowed PSL to hire its first executive director, mentoring coordinator, and three additional coaches/mentors, and a college access professional whose role it is to be provide more supports and opportunities to those that are seeking to further their education after high-school.
In 2006 our two founders, Kennedy Arias and Bill Flaherty, having come from different life paths, formed an unbreakable bond, and created a plan to address the growing gaps in youth sports in Providence. By focusing on developing consistent high quality coaching, practices, and opportunities to play competitively, PSL has provided hundreds of student-athletes with access to opportunities and resources while guiding them on their journeys to gain a sense of responsibility for themselves, their peers, and their community.
Baseball was the natural beginning for PSL, as both of our founders had extensive experience playing and coaching the game they love. Together they identified gaps within the city’s options for youth to play baseball, as programming is very limited in Providence after the age of 14. The once mighty Babe Ruth Senior leagues have diminished and many youth have ended up having to pay high fees to play elsewhere or stopped playing all together once they aged out of Little League. Additionally, fewer playing options was reflective of the shrinking number of qualified coaches and mentors in and around Providence.
After establishing a high quality baseball program, PSL began building out its additional support programs for student-athletes. Those programs consisted of tutoring, college Assist, strength and conditioning, and community service opportunities. In 2022, PSL received several funding awards that have allowed PSL to expand once again. These awards have allowed PSL to hire its first executive director, mentoring coordinator, and three additional coaches/mentors, and a college access professional whose role it is to be provide more supports and opportunities to those that are seeking to further their education after high-school.